China Officially Lifts Ban On Second Child

China officially approves Sunday the new two children policy that will be implemented from January 1, 2016.

Chinese lawmakers approved the new birth policy in a congressional meeting earlier today. The policy was approved previously by top Communist Party leaders.

The new policy will replace three decades old one-child policy to control population.

Earlier, the demographers warned China the falling birth rates could lead to labor shortage in near future and would endanger economic growth as well.

China is the most populated country in the world with 1.37 billion people. The working-age population is shrinking rapidly and a report by UN reveals the number of people over the age of 65 may jump 85 percent by 2030 to 243 million. Currently the aged population is 131 million.

Meanwhile, many couples say cost of having children in China is expensive and this may restrict them thinking for second child.

A previous relaxation in the policy didn’t lead to a significant increase in birth rates.

Earlier, the health officials said the second-birth application procedures will be simplified for couples that were until now complicated and used to take months to get permission.